Observing Climate with Satellites – Are We on Thinner Ice?
Compton Tucker
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA
The Earth’s climate is determined by irradiance from the Sun and properties of the
atmosphere, oceans, and land that determine the reflection, absorption, and emission of
energy within our atmosphere and at the Earth’s surface. Since the 1970s, Earth‐viewing
satellites have complimented non‐satellite geophysical observations with consistent,
quantitative, and spatially‐continuous measurements that have led to an unprecedented
understanding of the Earth’s climate system. I will describe the Earth’s climate system as
elaborated by satellite and in situ observations, review arguments against global warming,
and show the convergence of evidence for human‐caused warming of our planet.